The first Post-Graduation in Strategic Legal Communication in the Digital Era, promoted by the Judiciary of the State of Tocantins in partnership with the Superior School of the Judges of the State of Tocantins (ESMAT) began on Tuesday afternoon (9th), with a master class given by the journalist Carlos Alberto Di Franco.

At the opening of the Master Lecture, Judge João Rigo Guimarães, president of the Court of Justice of the State of Tocantins, remembered and emphasized the importance of the Post-Graduation course in Communication. "We know that Communication is part of our daily life, in our family, with friends, in our professional activities. So, Communication is a means that we have to integrate, to pass on information to people. The arrival of this graduate course is very important. We are sure that it will go down in the annals of the School and the Court of Justice".

Judge Marco Villas Boas, Esmat's General Director, said that, over the years, the School has consolidated itself not only as a training space for Judges and employees of the Judiciary of the State of Tocantins, but also with the training of partner entities and the general population. "Our focus is Human Rights. We work for the Justice system as a whole. Esmat is not a school exclusively for Judges and public servers; it brings the academy into its context and seeks to promote dialogue between the Judiciary and the press", he reinforced.

For the journalist Sebastião Pinheiro, Director of Communication at the Court of Justice, the first Post-Graduation, directed to communication professionals from the State of Tocantins, is an initiative that demonstrates respect for the press, having the citizen as the final point. "We would like to remind you that the Post-Graduation was only possible thanks to Judge Marco Villas Boas, who is a great enthusiast of professional qualification. On this occasion we also want to thank the whole Esmat team and Cecom. This course comes to broaden the journalists' qualification about judicial matters. We believe that it will improve not only the relationship between the judiciary and the press, but also to capacitate our professionals from the communication vehicles", he said.  

For the Judge Etelvina Maria Sampaio Felipe, General Chief of Justice, this post-graduation course will strengthen the ties between the Judiciary and the Press in the state. "We need to improve the relationship between the Judiciary and the press based on mutual knowledge, transparency, and respect. I am sure that this post-graduation course, brilliantly developed by our Superior School of the Judges of the State of Tocantins, will be a great step in the strengthening of this partnership, thus promoting an approach that will bear important fruits for Justice, which seeks to be ever closer to society, and for the media, which are important defenders of human rights. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Judge Marco Villas Boas and the journalist Sebastião Pinheiro for the brilliant initiative of promoting this course", he emphasized.

In the occasion the president of the Union of Professional Journalists of the State of Tocantins, the journalist Alessandra Bacelar the arrival of a post-graduation course for the class is a reason for celebration.  "It is a great joy for journalists to be included in this process of training and investment in learning more about the operation of the Justice System, especially the Court of Justice. We thank the efforts of Esmat, through the Judge Marco Antony, in making it possible for this post-graduation course to come out of the world of wishes into reality", she said.

Carlos Alberto Di Franco

Discussing postures and advances in journalism today, the lecturer recalled old, current, and recurrent themes of Brazilian journalism, such as the society of spectacle, the exacerbation of human suffering reflected in popular programs of police journalism, the search for momentary exposure, and many other phenomena perceived by the speed with which facts are presented and consumed. Parallel to this, the journalist recalled the role of the press and its interrelation with the Judiciary. "The greatest sin is distancing. They generate ghosts that disappear when light is thrown on them. So we suggest that the press and the judiciary talk and shed light on these ghosts. The judiciary has to meet the media so that the information reaches the public in a cohesive way. It is not the information that is technically produced, it needs to be ethically well produced," he stressed.

The post-graduation course will continue next Friday (12th). In all, 50 vacancies were offered to Communication professionals who work in the Executive and Judiciary branches, as well as journalists who work in the various communication vehicles in the State of Tocantins.